Pretend
by AvengingBlue
Summary: Ingus and Luneth do a pretty good job of pretending to hate each other in public until Refia finds out what they're like when they're alone. What could be better than pretending that nothing ever happened in the first place?
1. First Kiss

Anyone who sees the four Warriors of Light will probably assume that none of them get along. They would be wrong in such a case with the exception of Ingus and Luneth. The two knights will attack each other at any given moment, oftentimes leading to a loud verbal argument and even sometimes a fistfight.

"What do you mean 'I'm too needy?' All I was saying is that I'm tired!" Luneth shouts at Ingus, anger flaring behind his violet irises.

"You are always complaining," responds the dark night calmly with his arms crossed and a glare fixed on Luneth. "I believe that the day you travel to another town without whining will be the day that Hell freezes over."

"You shut your mouth, you asshole!" Luneth growls, clenching his fists.

"Guys, will you please stop fighting?" A quiet voice cuts through the tension. Both Luneth and Ingus look away from each other to find Arc, the magus and Luneth's best friend, looking at the ground nervously, almost shocked at himself for butting in.

"It might be best, Arc, if you don't invite yourself into a conversation that doesn't concern you," Ingus voices monotonously, his gaze unmoving.

"Oh... O-of course. I mean-"

"Don't talk to him like that, you jerk!" Luneth speaks again, drawing Ingus's attention away from Arc.

"I am simply pointing out that it was rude of him to-"

"You're going to talk to Arc about being _rude_? Isn't that just sweet?"

The corner of Ingus's mouth twitches.

"What's wrong? You got something to say? Say it!" Those were Luneth's last words before Ingus punches him in the jaw, his armored knuckles doing more damage than his fist normally would. Luneth naturally falls on his ass, holding the side of his face while moaning in pain.

"Luneth!" Arc gasps, his eyes wide from the shock of the sudden attack.

"Ingus!" Refia chastises as she runs up to Luneth and crouches next to him. "I thought you guys would argue a little while I went to check the town but never did I fathom that it would get this escalated in such a short amount of time!"

Ingus looks away with an unamused expression and shrugs.

"Cura," Refia mumbles as she heals Luneth's broken jaw. "I hope you're both happy." She gets up then helps her grounded friend up. "You managed to hurt each other in the span of five minutes."

"What are you talking about? I didn't get a single punch in!" Luneth protests defensively.

"Good," the devout retorts. "That's less mana for me to waste on your stupidity." Refia glares at both Luneth and Ingus before leading them all into the town, Arc following behind quietly.

Before long the four find themselves in their own rooms. Refia can't stand being in the same room as either of the knights, so she throws them in their own room together in hopes that they'll sort things out over night while she beds with Arc.

"I just wish they would get over themselves. It's like they're challenging each other for authority and neither of them can let the other win." Refia complains to Arc as they lay in bed together.

"Well it's mostly Ingus's fault, but I suppose it would be a lot different if Luneth wasn't here, too," Arc replies slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.

"Why are you trying to be so neutral about this? You know you can say whatever is on your mind when you're with me." Refia tries not to get too heated when saying this. It's a good thing that Arc is oblivious, otherwise he would have found out that she likes him a very long time ago.

"Oh... It's just that. . . You would think that Ingus would be okay with second place since he was just a soldier in a castle like King Sasune's."

Refia smiles a little, happy to get words like that out of the quiet Arc's mouth. "You're right, it's strange. Maybe he's just compensating..."

"I hate this," Luneth says as he takes apart his knight armor.

"Perhaps you should change jobs, then." Ingus pulls off his dark knight helmet before running a hand through his messy hair.

"Not that. This." Luneth beckons at himself then at Ingus. The blonde blinks, obviously still not quite understanding what Luneth is trying to say. "I don't want to pretend that we hate each other anymore." He takes off the rest of his armor, his boots, and the clothes on his upper body before he gets into bed.

"I'm sorry," Ingus replies insincerely as he takes off the clothes heavily decorating his own torso and the boots he obtained to better fit his dark knight attire. "I simply don't want anyone to feel differently toward either of us just because we don't actually hate each other." He joins the silver-haired knight in bed. "It may distract and force everyone to fight worse."

"Bullshit, you just don't want anyone to know that you have feelings."

Ingus seems to mull this over a little bit before deciding to humor his partner with a response. "While that may be a possibility I still don't want anyone to know."

Luneth glares at Ingus. "Come on..."

"It isn't that I don't love you, Luneth. I do. I just don't want to bear the looks that Arc and Refia could give us." At this point Ingus's face is nearly buried in Luneth's neck. "Please understand."

Luneth tries to stay mad at Ingus, but his slow, warm breath makes it difficult. "Ingus..."

The other lifts his head to look into Luneth's eyes with his own bright blue ones. "Yes?"

"Do you really love me?" Luneth blushes, trying to look at anything but the boy next to him. Of course Ingus loves Luneth, but there isn't any way to prove it. . . Unless...

Ingus quietly gets on his knees and elbows on top of Luneth then slowly, carefully leans in and presses their lips together. The knight, at first confused and incredibly embarrassed, wraps his arms around his darker counterpart and pulls him closer, forcing their stomachs to touch one another. The two had been together for a few weeks now, but never before had they kissed.

Luneth lets a hand gently rest upon Ingus's head, his fingertips entwining with the blonde's hair. His body is so warm and soft. Hardly any scars can be found on this careful boy's perfect body.

They part after a few seconds, both blushing uncontrollably. Quickly, Ingus rolls off of Luneth and lies down on his side with his back facing him.

"Good night, Luneth."

Normally this sort of behavior would upset Luneth, but after a kiss like that he could only smile. "Good night, Ingus."

Luneth awakens the next morning to find Ingus out of bed. He was just about to put his armor on when Luneth sits up and speaks.

"What're you doin'?" Luneth rubs his eyes with a yawn, giving Ingus a curious look past all the tired in his eyes.

"I'm getting dressed, Luneth." Ingus blinks, wondering why he would ask such a stupid question.

"Come here instead..." Luneth pats the empty space on the bed next to him.

Normally Ingus would protest, but he knows better than to reason with a sleepy Luneth, so he sighs and makes his way to the bed. Luneth nestles his head on Ingus's shoulder as soon as he sits down next to him. A pink shade creeps up onto Ingus's cheeks. Why does Luneth have to be so damn cute? Ingus brushes some of Luneth's hair away from his forehead.

"We should probably get ready. Both Refia and Arc rise early, and they'll be curious of our whereabouts." Ingus knows that it's useless to try to coax Luneth to do anything, but after last night he thinks it might be a little bit easier.

"No," Luneth moans with closed eyes. "They'll know where we are. I don't want to pretend to hate you this early in the morning."

These last words bothered Ingus a little. He doesn't want to pretend to hate Luneth either, but there's really nothing he can do about that. He's just not ready to tell the world that he's in love with someone that was once very obviously his sworn enemy.

What does he know anyways? He's only fourteen, as is Luneth. Love shouldn't even be a concern of his right now, but he _is _also saving the world, so he has a right to practically whatever he wants. Right?

Ingus shifts his gaze to meet Luneth's out of the corners of his eyes, suppressing his surprise to find amethyst orbs staring right back at him. He must be expecting some kind of a proper response.

Carefully, he parts his lips to choose his words very wisely. "Is there anything I can do to hold you over for the day?" It takes a lot of concentration for Ingus to leave out the formalities, which he was raised to say in nearly every sentence during his stay in Castle Sasune.

In a matter of seconds Luneth was facing Ingus, sitting in his lap with his hands resting upon Ingus's shoulders. The blonde stares at Luneth with that confused expression that Luneth has become used to seeing lately.

"Luneth? What are you-?" Ingus's words are abruptly halted by a pair of lips pressing against his own. Luneth's lips in particular. His soft, smooth lips. Ingus wraps his arms around his secret lover, suddenly wishing he could feel the subtle curves of Luneth's body and his sleek hair through his own heavy gauntlets. Never before has he been so angry with himself for getting ready early in the morning.

What both Luneth and Ingus failed to notice was the knock on the door before it swings open seconds later to reveal Refia standing at the doorway. The two immediately break away from each other to look at their unwelcome intruder. There the three stand – Refia staring from Luneth to Ingus then back again with a shocked expression on her face, Luneth staring back at Refia with his mouth wide open, and Ingus only glancing at the devout before staring at the bedsheets with wide eyes and wishing that none of this had to happen.

The door slams shut just as quickly as it was opened, and Refia's rushed footsteps can be heard down the hall as she runs back into her room. The odds are that she's gone to tell Arc about what she just saw.

"That. . ." Luneth tried to find something to say, but the situation caught him so off guard that he still hasn't completely recovered from it. "What should we do?"

Ingus thought for a minute before speaking. "We should just pretend that nothing ever happened." He looks up to meet eyes with Luneth. "Let's hope they think nothing of it." If not that, the least they can do is simply not bring it up.

"Pretend? Like always?"

"I'm afraid so."


	2. Tension

"Arc!" Refia slams the door shut behind her and leans against it, her expression unchanged.

Arc looks at her with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I mean- something. I can't tell you, but I have to. Oh, I shouldn't." By now Refia has her head in her hands. Her words spouting from her mouth uncontrollably while she contemplates whether or not to actually follow through will telling Arc about her amazing discovery.

"Refia. Calm down. Just tell me what's bothering you." Arc walks up to Refia and takes a gentle hold of her wrist. The two look each other in the eyes before Refia opens her mouth.

"Luneth and Ingus. They don't hate each other." The words sound stupid even to her despite the fact that she just caught them making out with each other.

"What do you mean?" Arc lets go of Refia's wrist with a puzzled look. "Of course they hate each other. Ingus broke Luneth's jaw just yesterday."

"You don't understand. I saw them in their room just a few minutes ago with their tongues down each others' throats. It was-..." Refia can't finish her sentence. The thought of walking in on her other two teammates while they were doing something so intimate simply bothers her, and to know that it actually happened doesn't help the traumatic situation.

"Horrible," Arc finishes with a shocked expression. How can his best friend be together with someone like Ingus? They hate each other, or at least they should. Their personalities are completely different, but they somehow find a way around that. What bothers Arc the most is the fact that they've been pretending to hate each other even while they've been together. No, maybe they just got together last night. It's possible that they got lonely as the four of them oftentimes do and hooked up. It can't be anything more than that.

"Should we confront them about it?" Refia isn't looking at Arc, and Arc isn't looking at Refia. The two are too embarrassed to so much as glance at each other when thinking of their friends being intimate with each other.

"I don't think we should." Arc is once again trying to pick is words wisely. "It wasn't supposed to be any of our business in the first place. They'll come out and tell us when they're ready."

"But-" Refia started, but was cut off by Arc.

"They're probably just as embarrassed about the situation as you are if not more so. You're the one who walked in on them, not the other way around." For once Arc is being confident in his choice of words. He doesn't want Refia telling everyone she knows that the two knights are together and don't really hate each other. That will make things awkward for the entire team. He just knows it will.

"I understand," Refia sighs as she looks down at the floor.

Arc smiles at her, grateful that a rebellious girl like her would do as he asks so easily. It makes him feel special that he's the only one of the three boys that she'll listen to for more than a moment at a time.

Refia looks at Arc. His smile is so calming. It's no wonder she'll do just about anything he wants. She imagines touching his soft skin and running her hands through his strawberry-brown colored hair as she leans in and kisses his lips. Perhaps he'll decide that he likes her too and touch her face or pull off her devout robe that she sometimes trips on.

"R-Refia?" Arc says her name in an almost panicked voice.

Refia opens her eyes to find Arc staring at her, undoubtedly frightened. Her hand is resting on the back of his neck and their faces are mere inches apart. Quickly, Refia pulls away and leans back against the door again.

"We should probably go outside now," Refia says in a shaky voice, turning to the door and opening it. She doesn't give Arc a chance to respond before she walks out, hoping beyond all reason that he would think nothing of her weak moment. How could she let herself do something like that? Her chances with Arc are probably ruined now.

Arc is a little confused about what came over Refia, but he's sure now that she has some sort of feeling toward him. The only problem is that he's not sure if he feels the same about her. Arc is almost always buried in his books, reading about new spells or how to better defeat certain monsters, so he's not exactly what one would call in tune with the rest of the world. The signs Refia throws at him, though, are nearly impossible to miss. He sometimes sees the way she looks at him before she quickly looks away, notices that she spends the most time with him out of anyone, and often wonders why she complains about being cold when he asks her why she's so close to him in bed, yet feels very warm to the touch. This seems like a problem that is in dire need of addressing.

The two mages walk out of the inn to find both Ingus and Luneth sitting on opposite sides of the doorjamb, looking at anything but each other. Refia looks like she's about to tell them that they already know what they're hiding, but Arc gives her a look that reminds her of the promise she made to him.

"So," Refia starts lamely. "Who wants to leave this place and continue on our little journey?"

"Where are we going?" Luneth looks at Refia with borderline curiosity.

"Oh... Uhm..." Refia hadn't thought about that. "We can go home."

At this all three of her teammates stare at her with a shocked expression. The Warriors of Light have been everywhere on the floating continent, and they had heard from Cid that their real home – or at least where they're from – is a place called the surface world. This place isn't even on the map, and to get there they must leave the floating continent and face the darkness that plagues it. The only reason they haven't been there yet is because they're all trying to avoid it. Yes, it may be irresponsible of the four Warriors of Light to evade their duties, but the floating continent has been their home since they were very young, and they're afraid to find out what their actual home world looks like now.

"I'm sorry." Refia covers her mouth. She didn't mean to say what she said. To refer to that place as home is an insult to their guardians. "I didn't mean it."

"It's okay, Refia. You're right. We shouldn't be avoiding that place and neglecting our god-given job like that." Arc defends Refia before anyone (particularly Ingus) can attack her for saying what she said. He looks at the other two who have yet to say anything about Refia's proposal. "Right?"

"You guys are right." Luneth animatedly gets up. It's good to know that he's back to normal after that odd incident half an hour ago.

Ingus simply nods and calmly gets up. "If we're going we should leave now."

The other three agree and set off for the _Enterprise. _Upon boarding their prized vessel Ingus, like always, takes off his dark knight helmet to better see when driving the ship while the other three take care of the more minor jobs but mostly enjoy the view.

Everyone is content except for Luneth, who noticed that Ingus hasn't looked at him at all since Refia had walked in on them. Even now he's looking straight ahead, leaning on the wheel of the now airship as it cuts through pure white clouds. Luneth wonders why he won't look at him. Even before, when no one knew, they would shoot each other meaningful glances, but now everyone seems to be avoiding direct eye contact with the two knights. This wouldn't actually bother Luneth so much if Ingus would at least take a moment of his time to check in on him just to make sure he isn't somehow dead. Yet there he is, in the same position as he has been. Luneth pulls off his own helmet and makes his way to his boyfriend.

"We need to talk." Luneth's eyes bore into the side of Ingus's head.

"About what, Luneth?" Ingus still won't look at anyone.

"About why you won't look at anyone." Luneth is starting to get angry.

"You must be imagining things. I've looked at both Arc and Refia today."

"Just not me."

"I have looked at you today. Do you not recall what happened at the inn? That required plenty of eye contact." Ingus is right, but that doesn't make what he's doing right, as well.

"I don't care. I know you're trying not to look at me because of what Refia saw. You want her to think that was just a one-time thing and that now you're throwing me away." Luneth has known Ingus for quite some time, so he knows it's true.

"You're being ridiculous..."

"_I'm _being ridiculous?" How dare he?

"Yes, Luneth, you're being ridiculous. I'm aware that it must be hard for you to believe, but trust me when I say that you couldn't be more wrong." Ingus finally turns to look at him, but his eyes look different. There's some sort of angry emotion flickering behind the blue in his eyes unlike anything Luneth has ever seen before.

"What are you doing then? Why haven't you looked at me until now?" Luneth is going to stand his ground even if this new Ingus is scaring him a little. He wants answers, so that's exactly what he's going to get.

"Do you remember when we agreed that we're going to pretend that nothing ever happened? Well that is exactly what I'm doing. Arc and Refia know about us now, and they're going to keep a closer eye on us to quench their curiosity because that is simply what people do. It's none of their business, I know, but we can't treat each other the same way that we used to if our teammates are going to act all-knowing in front of us."

Luneth way going to say something, but was abruptly cut off.

"Every fight and every argument that we used to have is going to be seen by those two as simple lover's quarrels. I don't want anyone to come to that conclusion just because someone saw us kiss. The best way to avoid something like that is simply by not looking at you because whenever I do it drives me crazy and all I want to do is talk to you, and the only way I can ever seem to do that is by arguing with you." That angry look flared up in his eyes as he was talking, but it suddenly went away with a sigh as Ingus turned away with his head in his hand. "Just don't make this more difficult than it already is..."

Ingus is right, like always. Luneth looks at the floorboards of the ship almost sadly, going over everything that Ingus had just said to him.

"I should probably get back." He doesn't want to leave, but he also doesn't want to be around Ingus any longer.

"Yes, you probably should." Ingus has once again taken his position by leaning on the wheel and staring straight ahead.

Luneth tries to keep himself from looking too upset as he returns to where his helmet lay. He was just about to sit down before he notices a new presence. He looks up at Ingus and notices an awed expression on his face, and he could tell that it had become much more windy without having to feel it just by seeing his golden locks whipping in the rough breeze. They must be in the surface world. The other three members look around and immediately take note of the purple mist hovering over the waters that their ship is flying over, wondering what would happen if anyone had dared to touch it.

Ingus carefully examines his surroundings, hoping to find a place to land the ship, but nothing seems to be there. He lets the ship wonder for a while until he finally spies an island with a seemingly abandoned ship on it. Carefully, he maneuvers the ship next to the crashed one and the team gets off to check it out.

Before long they find their way through the wreckage and come across Aria and her caretaker. Aria, upon being healed, explains the story behind the Temple of Water, the Cave of Tides, and the crystal inside of it. She requests to be taken to the crystal room in the cave to restore its power, and the team, although initially reluctant, agrees to escort her.

The four happily take her to the Temple of Water where there are no monsters to have to protect her from. The only drawback is that Luneth seems to be getting to know Aria more than he should. Ingus pretends not to care for the sake of his plan, but the idea keeps gnawing at the back of his mind. Luneth is just getting close to her to make him angry. To annoy him. That has to be right. Ingus is a soldier. Trivial things like this shouldn't faze him in the slightest, but it does. Every now and then Ingus will glance at the two, watching them talk and hoping that he doesn't see anything flirtatious play on Luneth's irresistible features. He smiles at her. She quietly responds to him in a small, smooth voice, her bright blue eyes boring into his beautiful violet ones and her blonde hair lightly flowing behind her as she walks. It's almost disturbing how physically alike Aria and Ingus are, and he wouldn't be surprised if anyone left him for a lovely and talented maiden such as herself.

"There!" Aria's eyes sparkle as she gazes upon the altar that holds the Crystal of Water's shard. She gingerly picks it up and holds it close to her breast in a protecting manner. Finally she turns to the team and requests that she be taken to the Cave of Tides, to which the four kindly accept.

They're all much more careful in the cave, being wary of monsters and keeping the shard safe. Ingus notices that Luneth is less focused on Aria here, also dutifully keeping an eye out for hiding monsters, but he still stays nearby her. Ingus shrugs this off, knowing that it could be worse.

At long last they enter the crystal room where the Crystal of Water shines bright and its beauty reflects off of the surrounding water. Aria steps up to the altar of the crystal and begins praying before it with the shard resting below the floating mineral. A minute passes by before she finally rises from her submissive crouch and faces the Warriors of Light.

"The crystal is regaining its power." Aria looks up at the crystal with a passively happy expression on her face. "Now all it needs is a little help from the Warriors. Stand back and merge your light with the crystal's to banish the darkness within the surface world."

They all collectively nod before turning away to walk a few paces away from the crystal. Aria screams something and Luneth is suddenly on the ground. By the time anyone looks up at the maiden she hits the ground, and an unfamiliar voice grabs their attention. A stranger wearing a purple hooded robe and walking on what seems to be squid-like tentacles says something about luck and having to die. Luneth, who was immediately by Aria's side, turns around to face the enemy with an extremely furious look. It was only a matter of seconds before they were all engaged in battle with a giant octopus monster. Perfect...

Ingus, frustrated with everything and hoping to relieve some stress, keeps using Souleater and indirectly makes Refia have to heal him every some turns. All of this drama between Luneth and himself is his fault. He always pushes people away even if he loves them, and he's grown weary of himself now. Why won't he just let Luneth come out to his teammates? Why can't Ingus himself come out to his teammates? At some point he wishes for Refia to run out of Cures and Curas so he can just let himself die.

Refia, unable to cast offensive magic very well as of yet, simply sticks with healing the team, mostly Ingus due to that stupid Souleater move he likes to use when he's frustrated. Although, thanks to her relatively easy job, she has the time to stare at Arc while he casts magic. She watches his lips move quickly as he whispers the right spells to himself before castoff. It isn't weak, either. A practiced magus such as himself has already practically perfected the spells he knows despite his very young age. One turn passes without a Cure because Refia gets so caught up with her staring. Ingus almost dies because of it, but she makes it up to him with a Cura.

Arc, having read something about a Kraken that looks a lot like the one they're battling now, keeps using Thundara for as long as he can before having to switch to Blizzara. The latter spell does significantly less damage, but it doesn't do much worse than Luneth's new Freezing Blade. Arc dares to glance at Refia, whom he notices is watching him again. She must be interested in black magic. Yes, that must be it...

Luneth, who is so blinded by the death of the last living Maiden of Water, keeps attacking with reckless slashes, yet he doesn't take nearly as much damage as Arc or Ingus does. It's not even entirely about Aria. Luneth has been frustrated with Ingus ever since their departure on the ship. Ingus is normally quiet and withdrawn, he knows, but that doesn't excuse his latest behavior. All he wants is to stop pretending, but Ingus won't let him do that. Sure, he got close to the maiden during their short time together just to get under Ingus's skin, but he never wanted the girl to die. The only thing he wanted was for Ingus to pull him aside or at least ask him why he was warming up to Aria so quickly. Yet nothing happened. It's as if Ingus just doesn't care for anything that will ruin the plan that he has set in motion.

It takes a while, but the Kraken dies with one final angered slash from Luneth. He wishes he had slashed at Ingus instead.


End file.
